Q&A: Are driverless vehicles a viable option for cash-strapped TTC?

Q&A: Are driverless vehicles a viable option for cash-strapped TTC?

A letter from TTC commissioner Karen Stintz to councillors this week explains that a further move to privatize garbage collection and washroom cleaning will save the transit commission millions. But for a service that appears to be in a perpetual search for money, further measures must be under consideration. Would driverless rail vehicles be an option? As part of this occasional series, the National Post’s Sarah Del Giallo looks at the possibility that subway trains may one day drive themselves.

Q: Is that even possible?

A: The vehicles themselves are designed so that they can operate without drivers, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy next step to automated service. The Yonge-University subway line is currently capable of running without an operator, but the TTC would need to work out platform safety and train control. Currently the line uses two drivers per train. In the short term, all they can do is bring two drivers down to one, said Ms. Stintz. This moves in the direction of automatic trains, but there aren’t any plans to have the system run automatically. Ms. Stintz said an automated system would eventually save the TTC cash, but it is too costly upfront. “In the long run, it would [save money], but we’d have to make some capital investments and right now those investments aren’t budgeted.”

Q: And does the same go for light rails?

A: Both the new Bombardier streetcars — the first of which will be in Toronto by the end of September for testing and move into use in 2013 — and the crosstown trains, which will be in use on the Eglinton, Scarborough RT, Finch and Sheppard lines and are due in 2020, can also be operated without drivers, but there are no plans to use them that way because of the difficulty of using automated vehicles in direct traffic. An LRV would need to have absolute right of way on city streets. That would only be the case for the underground portion of the Eglinton Crosstown.

Q: But everybody would be in favour of moving toward automation in the subway, right?

A: Not if you ask Bob Kinnear. Investing in the infrastructure required for such a project would be a misappropriation of funds, said the president of Toronto’s Amalgamated Transit Union. “I just feel the money would be better allocated to service,” he said. “We don’t believe that’s an improvement to the system, when there are people in Scarborough who have to wait half an hour. It doesn’t improve services, and it definitely doesn’t improve safety.”

Q: Which seems like a good time to address that issue …

A: Mr. Kinnear said drivers help to ensure that the public has a sense of security when riding transit. “The technology isn’t always as efficient as we’d like it to be,” he said. But Vancouver’s Translink Skytrain has been running automatic service for over 26 years. Drew Snider of Translink said automated service doesn’t take security or customer service away from passengers. “It’s driverless, but that doesn’t mean it’s not populated,” he said. Translink employs transit police, technicians and platform attendants who are available for “front-line customer service.” There is also a control centre where stations are monitored by cameras, and transit police or technicians can be contacted to respond immediately. The system is capable of stopping entirely if something falls onto the track, and a technician can take over the train and drive it manually if need be.

Q: So would switching to an automated service cost jobs?

A: Mr. Snider said a transit system that uses drivers would probably employ more people, but it’s not as dramatic a difference as people may imagine because of the jobs in customer service, train attendants and control boards. “That being said, there would be labour issues that would have to be worked through that are specific to Toronto,” said Mr. Snider.